Friday, September 30, 2011

Skillet Diner

I love, love, love some good street cart food action, and with the current (hopefully changing quickly!) Seattle regulations on street carts it can be painfully difficult to track down some of these tantalizing trucks. There are events, that bring them all together but nothing permanent, or even semi-permanent. Therefore, it is extremely exciting when my favorite trucks open entire restaurants. With full menus, indoor seating, open 7 days a week, in the same physical location. The beautiful air stream trailer housing Skillet, still makes its rounds but the diner is so good, so good. With all of the classics from the cart and much, much, more.

Skillet takes everything that is amazing about a diner, leaves behind the grime and produces some quality meals. They have taken innovative spins on the favorites and they serve almost beverage in mason jars. Beer, water and milkshakes all come is these classic glass vessels. Water carafes are left for your convenience on the table. There are cozy booths and a long counter lined with blue swivel seats that have a view of all of the action in the kitchen. Large windows let in a lot of natural light and make the space feel inviting and friendly.

Breakfast is full of homey homey goodness. Extremely fluffy griddle cakes came with house-made brown sugar syrup, lemon zest butter and peach compote. The biscuits and gravy come with a delicate white gravy flavored with onions, celery, carrots and maple chicken sausage. My neighbor seated at the table next to me ate the amazing pork belly waffle as we drank our coffee. This large cornmeal waffle is topped with a fried egg and a generous square of tender pork belly.

Dinner selections cover the diner basics, burgers, and fried chicken. But they are hardly ordinary. Mac and cheese comes in quotes because it is a fancy, fancy version with roasted butternut squash, candied walnuts and a bleu cheese crumble. There is also poutine, a rabbit duo, beautiful salads, roasted beets and more. We started with the kale caesar salad that was topped with the best fresh anchovies I have ever had. The sauteed rainbow trout was served with some huge pickled Washington cherries and a yellow peach and herb slaw. We also had some more traditional, aka fried, diner food. The fried chicken sandwich at Skillet has a fennel seed crust, with a liberal scattering of whole fennel seeds. It is topped with a jalapeno aioli and hearty kale instead of plain ole mayo and weak lettuce.

Gosh. Your write-up is lovely. :) If you're in SF over a Saturday, you need to come to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (I work here!). There are some fantastic prepared food vendors, and our most popular truck is the Roli Roti... they do a porchetta sandwich that attracts a line longer than seems believable... but apparently it's worth it.

Paige Irwin

I am obsessed with food. This blog details my explorations with eating, cooking and baking. As well as my adventures in urban farming, chasing street carts and scouring used bookstores for new foodie books. I hope to share my desire to engage with food and our food system. I live in Seattle, Washington, but I often travel to Portland and around the Pacific Northwest.